Heavy Metal legends Black Sabbath have released BLACK SABBATH: LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH ODEON, a 3-LP 180 gram vinyl with a triple gatefold packaging. This release is limited to 3,000 numbered copies and is a Metal Club exclusive, so make sure to snatch yours up at a participating retailer now before it sells out!

Black Sabbath: Live At Hammersmith Odeon features Ronnie James Dio, Tommy Iommi, Terry “Geezer” Butler and Vinny Appice LIVE at Hammersmith Odeon in January 1982 during Black Sabbath’s tour for The Mob Rules.

Available for the first time on limited-edition numbered vinyl, the concert spotlights Black Sabbath as they storm through 14 of the Dio-era’s best including, “Neon Knights,” “Heaven And Hell,” “Children Of The Sea” and “Country Girl.” The band also performs several pre-Dio classics including, “Paranoid,” “Children Of The Grave” and a white-hot version of “War Pigs.”

About Metal Club:

Metal Club is a group of record stores throughout the US and Canada that work to connect the vibrant metal community with their local record store. Fans will be able to visit their local Metal Club store for special metal promotional pieces, exciting in-store events, and a series of exclusive Metal Club releases. Please visit www.mymetalclub.com for store locations, news and information on other Metal Club releases.

Insane atmospheres, catchy parts, Vorkreist is the perfect mix between grimnness of Black metal and Brutality of death metal. Sickness is the ultimate artist of this world. Vorkreist is its Apostle. Worth mentioning the line up consist of members of Hell-Militia, Blacklodge, Secrets Of The Moon, Glorior Belli or Merrimack to list just a few.
Before the follow up of their latest album Sickness Sovereign will be unleashed some rarities will be released on vinyl. We will keep you posted about future projects and their firm dates.

Norwegian-Spanish gothic metal icons SIRENIA, lead by mastermind Morten Veland (MORTEMIA, ex-TRISTANIA), have posted another brand new song to their Myspace page (www.myspace.com/Sirenia). “Fallen Angel” comes from the bands forthcoming masterpiece entitled The Enigma of Life. The Enigma of Life is set to be unleashed on January 21 2011 in Europe and on February 15 in North America.

Commented mainman Morten Veland: “The release date for The Enigma Of Life is closing in now. To shorten the waiting period we have decided to release one more track from the album. This is the track ‘Fallen Angel’, we hope you will enjoy it while you wait for the album. Cheers!”

“For those of you waiting for new BLOTTED SCIENCE material… BUG OFF! “This concept started to take shape in June of ’08 when BLOTTED SCIENCE got together for the first time to rehearse and threw ideas around for a second CD. We wanted to score some kind of creepy horror film, and so something was definitely abuzz.

“The idea of writing music that syncs up perfectly with clips of disgusting insects and other creepy creatures was set in motion. “After working with close to a dozen movie clips, it became apparent that to do a full-length CD, it would take far too long to complete. You need to take in the fact that we are writing exclusively with a 12-tone system 100% of the time, so things get very detailed, nitpicky and restricted. On the timing side of things – counts, measures, time signatures, and note subdivisions also now have to conform to frames per second and more importantly match and coincide with what is on-screen. Throw out any semblance of verses and choruses too while you’re at it. Rather than have musical sections last a series of measures, some full sections now last just a few counts. I’ve scored music to film before with SPASTIC INK’s ‘A Wild Hare’ and ‘The Cereal Mouse’, and Alex and I have written with a specific 12-tone system on the first BLOTTED SCIENCE CD, ‘The Machinations Of Dementia’, but putting these two together has been brutally intense.

“Will all of this be too much for fans to take in? We shall see….. literally..…

“Hannes (Grossmann, drums) will be going into Woodshed Studios in Landshut, Germany on January 31, 2011, with V. Santura (DARK FORTRESS, TRIPTYKON) engineering, and is now preparing for the session. Alex (Webster, bass) is recording his bass tracks at his Hell Whole Studios in Tampa, and I am locked away in my Live Oak Studios here in San Antonio.

“If all goes well we should have everything recorded in a few months.”

ABYSMAL DAWN are currently streaming the title track from their forthcoming album Leveling The Plane of Existence online now at MetalManiacs.com. This is the second preview of music taken from Leveling The Plane of Existence, with “In Service Of Time“ currently streaming via the ABYSMAL DAWNMySpace and Facebook pages as well as being available for download via the free Relapse Records label sampler (here).

Leveling The Plane of Existence, the follow-up 2008’s Programmed To Consume, is set for a February 1st North American release date (February 7th– UK, February 11th – Germany, Benelux, February 14th – rest of EU) and is available for pre-order here. A deluxe digital version of the album, which includes four bonus tracks and digital booklet, is also available for pre-order at iTunes.

ABYSMAL DAWN was joined by guest musicians Moyses Kolesne (KRISIUN) and Kragen Lum (HEATHEN, PROTOTYPE) during the recording of Leveling The Plane of Existence. Kolesne provides a guitar solo on the track “Pixilated Ignorance” and Lum adds guitar solos on “Rapture Renowned” and the title track that can be heard now at MetalManiacs.com.

ABYSMAL DAWN will embark on the first North American tour in support of Leveling The Plane of Existence starting in late February. ABYSMAL DAWN will be teaming up with KATAKLYSM, ALL SHALL PERISH, DECREPIT BIRTH and more for this four-week tour that will kick-off on February 24th in Cleveland, OH. The band has also confirmed a local headlining show for January 18th at the Chain Reaction in Anaheim. A listing of confirmed tour dates and cites can be found below with more to be announced soon.

ABYSMAL DAWN is available for interviews upon request. To speak with the band, simply contact Betsey Cichoracki at Relapse Records via any of the means listed at the bottom of this message. Updated ABYSMAL DAWN news and tour information will be made available at the Relapse Records website: RELAPSE.com, the ABYSMAL DAWN MySpace: MySpace.com/AbysmalDawn and Facebook page.

Available for the first time in North America as non-imports, SABATON’s first four full-length albums will be re-issued by Nuclear Blast on April 14th, 2011. Titles include: 2005’s Primo Victoria (Re-Armed), 2006’s Attero Dominatus (Re-Armed), 2007’s Metalizer (Re-Armed – 2 CDs),and2008’s The Art Of War (Re-Armed). Exclusive bonus material and cover songs for each re-release will soon be announced.

A Swedish power metal sextet that specializes in military history, SABATON bassist Pär Sundström has this to say about the long-overdue availability of their discography in North America and the re-releases coinciding with their first-ever North American tour with German heavy metal legends ACCEPT:

“We are thrilled about finally being able to tour North America and to be able to do so with such legends as ACCEPT is even better. Finally, our first four albums will be available outside of Europe right in time for this tour. We will be playing songs from all five albums every night and during our full-length headlining shows, we will present the music from more than ten years of SABATON for the first time on North American soil.”

View the video for the track “Uprising” – “a powerful and emotional tribute to those who lost their lives in the Warsaw uprising in 1944” – at this location. Filmed in Warsaw, Poland, “Uprising” was directed by Jacek Raginis (who is related to decorated WWII hero Wladyslav Raginis), features an appearance by Swedish actor Peter Stormare (“Prison Break,”, “8MM,” “Fargo”) as SS-Obergruppenführer von dem Bach, and was a collaborative work with the Warsaw Rising Museum, the “Radoslaw” Reenactment Group, the Wizna 1939 Association and Polish fans. It also features archival materials provided by Filmoteka Narodowa.

The “Making Of” video with English subtitles can be viewed here. Stills from the video shoot can be viewed here.

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. – January 12, 2011 – Metal Blade Records is pleased to announce the signing of Swedish sleaze and punk influenced metal band SISTER. “We feel honored to have signed with legendary Metal Blade Records. This is the kind of label we’ve been waiting for and together we know we will make big things happen!” comments the band. SISTERM, who hails from Stockholm/Jönkoping Sweden, formed in early 2006 working hard to build up a name as a strong act both live and in the studio. SISTER consists of 4 members- Jamie on vocals, Lestat on guitars and backing vocals, Rikki on bass and backing vocals, and Cari on drums and backing vocals- who combine the sounds of Punk, Glam, Rock, and Metal with an end result sounding something like the bastard child of GG Allin and Guns N’ Roses.

SISTER’s Metal Blade debut will be annihilating the world come summer 2011. Stay tuned to MetalBlade.com and the band’s websites for further details over the coming months.

The sleaze/punk influenced metal outfit known as SISTER, who hail from Stockholm/Jönkoping Sweden, formed in early 2006 working hard to build up a name as a strong act both live and in the studio. SISTER consists of 4 members- Jamie on vocals, Lestat on guitars and backing vocals, Rikki on bass and backing vocals, and Cari on drums and backing vocals- who combine the sounds of Punk, Glam, Rock, and Metal with an end result sounding something like the bastard child of GG Allin and Guns N’ Roses.

During 2006 and 2007 SISTER played all over Sweden and also went abroad as much as possible. In 2008 SISTER toured Europe in countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Denmark and Norway. Enter 2009; SISTER released the EP Deadboys Making Noise and a video for the track “Too Bad for You,” which got garnered great reviews from critics and fans alike while also catching the attention of Primordial’s Alan Averill ‘Nemtheanga’. Alan, having recently signed on to assist with A&R at Metal Blade Records, brought SISTER to the label’s attention in 2010 helping to secure the band a worldwide record deal.

During the years, Sister has built up a heavy fan base all over the world and has drawn a lot of attention as an up and coming band. Now as a part of Metal Blade’s illustrious roster, SISTER is sure to take the world by storm with the band’s raw and energetic brand of punk metal. As the band puts it, “SISTER is all about givin’ in to whatever you are into. Live the way YOU want and not how some fuckin’ narrow-minded piece of shit tells you to. Enjoy your fucked up life and throw yourself into whatever feels right. That’s the SISTER way of thinking! Or just fuck things up till you drop…”

Norwegian death metal tyrants BLOOD RED THRONE wrapped up 2010 with their first ever North American tour, which saw the band playing alongside the likes of DIMMU BORGIR and ENSLAVED.

Now, in 2011, BLOOD RED THRONE are back and planning their next stage of attack.

The band has issued the following update:

“Blood Red Throne just got back home from a 6-week US/Canada tour with Dimmu Borgir and Enslaved. Despite a couple of accidents, smashing another car and flipping our trailer, we had a blast over there and we made many new fans as well as old fans who were thrilled to see us for the first time. It was strange experiencing both winter in Canada and summer in California on the same tour and we spent countless hours in the van. But it was all worth it, playing the bigger venues and sharing the finest Norwegian death metal with you!

“As for 2011, Død has written five new killer tunes for an upcoming album. We’re returning to Mexico the first weekend in June, playing a festival with Sepultura. In August, we’re playing with Morbid Angel, Vader, Gorguts and Nevermore at the Brutal Assault Festival! Cheers & Beers!”

On 10th January Danish band Artillery finished their work on the forthcoming album entitled “New Blood”. The new material will be released by Metal Mind Productions in March. The album was recorded at the Medley Studios, Denmark with Søren Andersen as the producer. The band has just published a video teaser on YouTube to give you a foretaste of the new material. You can find it HERE (or watch it below).

Metal Mind Productions set up the release date for 14th March in Japan (via Kings Records), 21st March in Europe, 5th April in USA (via MVD). The album will be released as a jewel case CD and as a digipak CD including 2 bonus tracks. Japanese edition of the album will include an exclusive bonus track which won’t be available elsewhere. Full info to follow soon!

More than 2 years after the release of the aclaimed work “Diary of a No”, Urban Tales are back with their second master piece “Loneliness Still Is The Friend”.

The released date is set to March 7th and will contain 10 new songs. You can already hear/see the first single “Stand Alone” in the official site of the band (www.urbantalesmusic.com), while the second single “Fly Away” is at the moment rolling in national radios.

Released by the greek label Burning Star Records, “diary of a No” was in stores in the end of 2007 and quickly gained the status of one of the best albums of the year. With the album followed air play in the biggest radios, TV appearances and shows in important festivals.

In November of 2008, the band recorded 3 new songs, one of them (ALIVE), the anthem for the Federation of Rare Diseases of Portugal (FEDRA). The CD single was a complete success giving the portuguese boys more mainstream attention than before and conquering another kind of audience.

Without any kind of pressure, the band started to record the second album in 2009 and joined the famous producer Dave Chang to work in the first single “Stand Alone”. This first songs quickly conquered the national radio stations, with more than 5 months of airplay. Some months later a video for the same song was released and premiered in the famous MTV program “Headbangers Ball”.

The recently reunited Greek progressive/death metal legends ACID DEATH will be making their radio debut on ROCK HARD magazine’s radio show, with hosts Fragiskos Samoilis (drummer of INNERWISH, X-PIRAL) & Orpheus Spiliotopoulos (MTV’s “Headbangers Ball”), this Friday (January 14th) on ATLANTIS 105.2 FM, at 10 pm (Greece). Savvas Betinis, lead vocalist & bassist of the band, will be joining the show for the full two hours and new ACID DEATH songs shall be broadcasted for the very first time!
The show will also be available live, via the web, through the radio station’s official website: http://www.atlantisfm.grACID DEATH‘s current lineup:Savvas Betinis – Bass & Lead vocals Dennis Kostopoulos – GuitarGus K. – Guitar Kostas Alexakis – Drums & Percussion

“6 Licks” is an installment of videos at PlayThisRiff.com where artists are asked to play six improvised licks and then show the scale patterns used to create those riffs. In this feature, Vogg demonstrates a few of his riffs using “E minor pentatonic,” “E minor pentatonic with blues notes,” and “E minor pentatonic #5b7.”

It’s been five years since Immortal Dominion has issued a full-length studio album. But the wait is nearly over, metalheads. March 22nd, 2011 will see the release of the group’s third full-length overall, ‘Primortal’ (on 427 Records), and the album will surely take the group to the next level, as it was overseen by renowned metal producer Sterling Winfield (who has previously worked with the likes of Mercyful Fate, Pantera, Damageplan, and Hellyeah).

As Winfield explains, “I really enjoyed the studio experience with Immortal Dominion, not only for the band and what they brought to the table as far as their material, and their professional attitude, but the facility, Backbone Studios, in Loveland Colorado, is unbelievable! A killer place that was made just for the creative person in all of us. The staff is there to help you with your vision, and never said no to ANY of our crazy ideas. Don’t even get me started on the gear available to us. The best!”

Comprised of band members Ray Smith (vocals), Brian Villers (guitars/vocals), Louis Micciullo (guitars), Bryan “Ed” Schmidt (bass), and Casey Glass (drums), Immortal Dominion has assembled a strong album that easily measures up to other releases by modern metal acts. As Villers explains, “I think the current metal scene has come around full circle, with guitar solos and great drumming being prevalent again. And our new sound fits in with that perfectly.” Or as Schmidt describes Immortal Dominion’s sound, “Somewhere between Cannibal Corpse…and Elton John!” And after hearing such standout tracks as “Reanimated” and “Retroactive,” you’ll discover that Schmidt’s description is not that far off.

Immortal Dominion will be supporting the release of ‘Primortal’ with live dates throughout 2011, and as Smith describes, “Fans can expect an exciting performance that will blow them away. The guitar solos and drum beats take it to a new level of listening entertainment, while the vocals are great and easy to sing along with.” Adds Micciullo, “We are a very high energy band, so they should expect lots of head banging!”

And lastly, just what does the future hold in store for Immortal Dominion? “I see Immortal Dominion growing every day in the music industry,” explains Glass. “With the new band line-up, live performances and new songs, we will continue to bring something new to the table. Working with industry leaders and top bands will make Immortal Dominion a force to be reckoned with.”

Gothenburg Sweden based metal sextet MARIONETTE will support the
MURDERDOLLS – the band consisting of Joey Jordison (SLIPKNOT, ROB ZOMBIE)
and Wednesday 13 – on the continental European dates of its “Women and
Children Last Tour” next week. Dates are as follows:

“We’re excited and honored to tour with the MURDERDOLLS next week on
the bands continental European dates. This is a band we feel really
confident touring with; they have a strong visual character and are
excellent performers. Sharing the stage with them for two weeks will give
us a chance to try out some of our new material from our third album, which
is now close to being completely mixed. We’re also looking forward to
seeing what our fill in drummer Robin Jensen will do on stage with us!

MARIONETTE recently inked a worldwide publishing deal with Warner/Chappell
Music Scandinavia (MESHUGGAH, SABATON). The band is currently mixing its
as-yet-untitled third album at Studio PH in Gothenburg with Pontus Hjelm
(DEAD BY APRIL). The album will be mastered at Masters of Audio (RAMMSTEIN,
WITHIN TEMPTATION, HELLACOPTERS) in Stockholm. Song titles set to appear
on the CD include “Something Forgotten”, “Remember Your Name”, “Stand In
Line” and “Lights Out”.

MARIONETTE recently concluded its “The SlaughTour 2010” UK headline
tour and Scandinavian dates supporting DARK TRANQUILLITY: the first tour
dates featuring new vocalist Alexander Andersson (ELDRIMNER) who joined the
band last spring. More info is available on the widget below: